Hot Stuff

   This is the season of the hot pepper. I am not a fan of food that burns my mouth but these peppers do look quite elegant .
    If for some reason you are brave and decide you want to try eating one of these make sure you wear gloves when you slice them . Also be sure not to touch your eyes as they will sting .
     Once I cut jalapeno peppers without gloves. When I removed my contact lenses it really burned . I had to put my contacts through about three rounds of clear care solution to get them back to normal.

Sukkah in Union Square

The Chabad sukkah in Union Square this year was unique. They decorated the outside in  a funky cool design. It was the most creative sukkah I have seen this year.  Unfortunately right next to the sukkah the hare krishnas were dancing and singing. It was surreal. I felt bad for the Chabadnicks who were trying to get people to bentsch lulav and esrog  or to say a bracha in the sukkah.

 I took a lot of pictures of the outside of the sukkah because I thought it was such a fun sukkah. I could not decide which pictures I liked best so I posted most of the pictures I took.

Sukkah City Union Square 2010

This is footage from the Sukkah City competition in NYC in Union Square in 2010. What is interesting about this video is that many of those who are speaking are creators of the sukkahs that were in the competition.  . This second video really captures what it felt like to browse the city of sukkahs  in the competition.

Sukkah City The Documentary.

   Tonight I saw the documentary Sukkah City at the JCC in Manhattan. It was screened for free in Union Square on Sunday night but I unfortunately I had other plans so I missed joining the 400 people who were there for the screening . I hate crowds  but it would have be cool. It was pretty cool to see it at the JCC tonight. Th filmmaker Jason Hutt was there as well as Danny Passow the rabbi who who Joshua Foer consulted for the competition and Henry Grossman  1/2 of the creative team of Henry Grossman and Babak Bryan who created the winning sukkah called Fractured Bubble.

fractured bubble

 Sukkah City was the brainchild of Joshua Foer who wanted to raise awareness of what a sukkah is by creating a competition for architects to use the biblical parameters to create a winning sukkah. Twelve of these sukkahs were to be displayed in Union Square and the those who  viewed the sukkahs would choose the winner.
  Jason Hutt's documentary covers the competition from start to finish. He interviews the contestants as well as the jurors who chose which sukkahs to include in the Sukkah City display in Union Square. He also shows footage of the eclectic mix of people who viewed the city of sukkahs in 2010.,                            Many of the contestants were architects who never actually built anything they had designed so it was enjoyable for them to actually create their designs.
     Though they had been instructed to create sukkahs that were halachacally correct most of the sukkahs used the guidelines loosely.
    I found it quite enjoyable to listen to what the largely gentile contestants thought about making sukkahs and how serious they took the challenge. It was equally enjoyable to see the jurors choose the sukkahs . One sukkah that was excluded from the competition was one that would have made the Union Square subway stairs into a sukkah. The designer had proposed to put schach across the handrails of the subway station to create a sukkah. It would have been cool, but as in the movie 12 Angry Men,there was one person who objected and a lot of lively discussion which ended up excluding this sukkah from the mix.
      At the  end of the film they showed the reactions of many of those who viewed the display  of sukkahs which included Dr. Ruth Westheimer. My favorite sukkah viewers were the little boys who brought tape measures and analysed whether or not they thought the sukkahs were kosher.
     I had been one of the many viewers of those sukkahs. I think that it was an amazing project. The project made so many aware of what a sukkah is . It was funny to see what the designers  created and how different they were from any sukkah I have ever visited, but I looked at them as art and no one was going to actually use one for the Sukkot holiday .
     The documentary was informative and captured the spirit of Sukkah City the event. It will be shown again tomorrow night at the JCC in Manhattan.

Danny Passow, Jason Hutt, Henry Grossman

timeless

DIY Pumpkin Latte

   Since last year I have been making the best pumpkin lattes courtesy of Hungry Girl e-mails. I will share the link to the recipe with you. hungry girl pumpkin latte  Its amazing. Try it. Now.

Sukkos Greetings

     I am really enjoying this Sukkos. The three days of Yom Tov and Shabbos did not drag on endlessly as it sometimes does. It was wonderful to get together with friends for meals and chat with friends on Ocean Parkway knowing that there was nothing but Yom Tov and Shabbos on the agenda for three days. 

     It is so important to savor these holidays because as soon as they  are over  its back to full weeks of work.

Mad Mentsch

This is a little hokey but I thought I would post this anyway. Enjoy.

Beaming

      I often wonder what would happen if someone had an evil plot and decided to beam subliminal messages to people's cell phones or tablets. Or perhaps someone already is and we don't even realize it. People are that connected to technology they may not even realize they were being brainwashed.
       If you watch this you tube video it almost looks like the brainwashing has transpired. People are communing with their phones more than with humans. Thank goodness for Shabbos and Yom Tov when I am forced to disconnect from technology and reconnect with humans.

Anti-Semite finds out he is Jewish

    I just found this on facebook and I had to post it. It boggles the mind. 

Age Matters

      There is so much emphasis on looking young and being young in this culture that we sometimes forget that there is value with age. The thing that few people  tell you is that with age one gains insight about life that one does not get from anything but from having lived a bit. This is only a plus. I was fortunate to have someone actually tell me this years ago. Of course at the time I thought she had three heads. But this acquaintance at work told me that she was happy to be the age that she was and that she finally felt confident and comfortable with her lot in life. At the time I hoped that when I would be her age that I would feel the same. I am not yet the age that she mentioned, but I now I see a little bit more of what she meant. I too am more comfortable with who I am and who I have become than I was in my twenties which helps make up for the fact that I'm not actually in my twenties .
     When I was younger I would listen to adults talk about different time periods in their lives nostalgically and I could not exactly relate to it. Now I can and its not all bad. Its fun to be part of the youth culture of the day, but its also nice not to have to worry about always keeping up with it because you know that today's trends are the not too distant future's glamour don't.
      Decade to decade attitudes change as well as fashion. One really has to find what one is comfortable with and stick with it. The pop philosophy and attitudes  of the day will always change. It does not mean that you have to.

Types

     There are two kinds of people- those who are what you see is what you get and those who you have to get to know. I'm not exactly sure which type I am but I suspect is that I am more the type you have to get to know . I am fine with that. Years ago I had found this frustrating .Sometimes what is so apparent about some is so abhorrent that it would be better if it was more hidden. Then again maybe it's better that way. Sometimes when you get to know someone it gets better sometimes its worse. It's all about being willing to make that journey.

Jerry Lewis and The Jazz Singer

 I have been looking for this version of The Jazz Singer for years. I should have looked at you tube sooner. Dov Bear posted this on his blog, so I had to post it here. Its post Yom Kippur, so its quasi appropriate. I still think that the original version with Al Jolson was the best version of The Jazz Singer.

Smart Ways to Live

I thought that this was a  really cute video with a message of positivity before Yom Kippur. 

Google Rosh Hashanah

I realize that Rosh Hashannah  5774 has passed, but I did not get a chance to post this before Rosh Hashannah, so I am now

Patriot Day 9/11/13

     When I opened my calender to September this year I noticed that September 11 is now called Patriot Day. I am not sure exactly why, but it will always be merely 9/11 to me.
       It has been 12 years since one of the most horrific tragedies in my lifetime. It was the first day in my life when I experienced lack of appetite. And yet , life has moved on.
       On 9/11/01 it had seemed like time had stopped. I woke up 9/12/11 and wondered what next? Could life ever go on normally again? I went to work the next day and realized it could except for the fact that no one could stop talking about what had happened the day before.
     September 11,2001 was an extraordinarily beautiful day. The day before it had rained non-stop, which accentuated just how sunny and beautiful September 11 was. It just goes to show that just as tranquility does not always prevail on  a sunny day, tragedy does not always occur on a rainy day. Attractive people aren't always kind and less attractive people sometimes are more genuine.
      I cry for the families who lost loved ones during the attacks. I cry for the loss of our collective innocence.
      May we be inscribed for a year of peace, health and harmony.
     
      

These are my People

 I was so happy to see this Marc Jacobs ad. As a curly haired woman I can tell you that you almost never see this many models with this type of curly hair in a picture. These are my people. The women with the uncontrollable curly hair.Thank you Marc Jacobs. Shana Tova Marc Jacobs.  You made my day.

Shanah Tovah

     It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. But it has. So much to do. So little time. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year.
      There is still time to reach one's goals but it may not be this year.

Honesty

     Being frum is not about compartmentalization. Its a way of life. I think that often people forget this . Hence the recent ponzi schemes perpetrated by frum Jews. Yes, I will call them frum Jews. They probably are very makpid on kemach yoshon and would never consider relying on the Flatbush eruv. They just are able to compartmentalize their frumkeit into one  basket and their business mores into a different basket.
     Rosh Hashanah is upon us. It is a time to reflect and resolve to do better next year. Of course those who really need to be listening to this are not reading blogs, but I will continue anyway. It is time to be careful in business . I have seen too many very frum looking people trying to take advantage of weaker trusting people in business. It makes me sick. Frum people are not the only ones who do this, but that is not justification. If people paid more attention to being honest in business than in the measurements of women's clothing  we would be living in a better world. Maybe then mashiach would come.

Disappointment

     Sometimes people are not able to be who you want them to be no matter how much you may want them to be. It is always so disappointing to find this out. Sometimes people set out on a destructive path that spins out of control . They are the only ones who can dig themselves out of their mess. No amount of sadness on my part will change them. It is moments like this that force me to move on .